Stubborn gender gap persists in math, engineering programs

Female college and university students outnumber men on Ontario’s campuses, but are far outflanked by their male counterparts in several areas of study including math and engineering, despite a concerted years-long push to boost female enrolment.

Saunders secondary school math teacher Sylvie Gaede poses with 15 of the 20 female Grade 9 students who enrolled in the STEM program at the school. Despite efforts by people such as Gaede, women are outnumbered in some science, technology, engineering and math programs in post secondary institutions in Ontario. (Mike Hensen/The London Free Press)

Female college and university students outnumber men on Ontario’s campuses, but are far outflanked by their male counterparts in several areas of study including math and engineering, despite a concerted years-long push to boost female enrolment.

The latest snapshots from Statistics Canada show that while more women than men are enrolled in college and university education and health programs, women are outnumbered in other fields of study.

Architecture, engineering and related fields have the largest gender disparity, with men outnumbering women four to one at Ontario’s post-secondary institutions. In the province’s university and college math, computer and information sciences fields, men outnumber women by more than two to one.

In Fanshawe College’s building technology and applied science faculties – which include programs on engineering and architectural technology – men outnumber women almost five to one in the 2018-19 school year.

Boosting women’s interest in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) careers has been a years-long goal for gender parity advocates, colleges, universities and professional organizations.

“A lot of young women, when it comes to anything to do with STEM learning. . . they still feel that it’s not welcoming for them to participate,” said Doina Oncel, founder of hEr Volution, a non-profit that focuses on increasing young women’s participation in science and technology careers. “We need to change the language and how we make them feel when they are learning something new that is generally seen as a male-dominated area.”

There are signs the tide is turning. When it comes to engineering, Western University is bucking the provincial trend. In the 2018-19 school year, about one in three of its undergraduate and graduate students in the faculty are women, including undergraduate engineering society president Allie Bachtold.

“The per cent of women in our engineering program has been growing, so I do believe that educating young girls about their options in STEM is helping,” she said in a message. “I hope that, with education, more young women can learn about how rewarding an engineering career path can be.”

The gender gap between men and women in Ontario studying engineering and architecture has decreased during the last decade, from nearly five men for every woman in 2007-08 to about four men to every woman in 2016-17, the last year data is available.

The enrolment gender gap in Ontario’s college and university math, computer and information sciences fields has decreased slightly from about 2.8 men for every woman in 2007-08 to about 2.5 in 2016-17.

It’s hard-fought progress, but the work is far from over, Engineers Canada president Annette Bergeron said.

The non-profit, which represents professional engineering regulators in Canada’s provinces and territories, is looking ahead to 2030, the year it wants to see women represent 30 per cent of newly licenced engineers nationwide.

“It is definitely a long-term goal . . . We have seen a steady increase in women in engineering but the numbers are still much lower than we would like them to be,” Bergeron said. “The reason we chose 30 per cent is it’s universally held as a tipping point for sustainable change.”

Engineers Canada also is looking at better ways to support women after graduation, in the workplace and when they go for their licence, with the hopes of keeping them in the profession, Bergeron said.

“If you keep doing things the same way, you can’t expect a different result. We have to keep looking at new ways of doing things if we want to achieve a different result,” she said. “We just need to figure out some new strategies, and that’s what we’re working on.”

BY THE NUMBERS

4.04 – Number of men for each woman in Ontario post-secondary architecture, engineering and related fields

2.5 – Number of men for each woman in Ontario post-secondary math, computer and information sciences

3.6 – Number of women for each man in Ontario post-secondary education faculties

2.47 – Number of women for each man in Ontario post-secondary health and related fields

443,301 – Number of women enrolled in Ontario post-secondary institutions

368,397 – Number of men enrolled in Ontario post-secondary institutions

Source: Statistics Canada, 2016-17 post-secondary enrolments data

Getting women involved in STEM

Mentorship and networking

“The Western Women in Engineering Club. . . has various initiatives such as the “Big Sister Little Sister Program” that matches upper-year female students with incoming first years. I’ve been a part of this program, both as a little sister and a big sister, throughout my time at Western and have found this one-on-one mentoring to be very helpful. The club also offers other networking events and resources for women in engineering.”

– Allie Bachtold, president of Western University’s Undergraduate Engineering Society

Integrate opportunities for creativity

“When we look at our after-school workshops, where parents or grandparents or guardians are responsible for enrolling the kids, girls represent less than 10 per cent of our student body after school. . . One of the key differences between STEM and STEAM is that A, for the arts element. What the research says is it helps more girls get into STEM. If you really enjoy drawing or jewelry-making, you can make bespoke beads of your own design through the 3D printer. They can keep engaging with jewelry-making and creative expression, but elevated with technology.”

– Jessice Granfaull, executive director of the STEAM Centre in St. Thomas

Reach girls young

“I think that what really will help is to normalize it, to make a conscious decision. . . to have both boys and girls at a young age, before high school, participate in programming that will facilitate this type of learning. Make it more strategic so that boys feel that it’s okay for girls to do the same thing as they do and make girls more confident.”

– Doina Oncel, founder of hEr Volution

Show physical sciences make a difference

“They want to contribute to society and see how they’re making an impact. So, we want to show them engineering makes huge impacts on society and makes life better for all of us. How do we remind them of that? How do we make them aware of that? . . . They’re going in droves to university, why aren’t they taking engineering?”

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